Backpacking Information on Indonesia

Executive summary article by Josh Boorman

INDONESIA

Population: 225.3 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Jakarta Area: 1.9 million sq km (742,308 sq miles)
Major languages: Indonesian, 300 regional languages
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 65 years (men), 69 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 rupiah (Rp)

The Republic of Indonesia is then again one of the MUST-SEE places in Southeast Asia a small hop from the Indochina Peninsula. Although it has previously lost some of its charisma to the world with the 2002 killings of 164 international tourists and 38 locals in Kuta, Bali, tagging along tectonic hyperactivity scares that brought about almost instantaneously the tragedy of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that took 167,737 lives in North Sumatra, was yet another big blow to Indonesia's tourism industry, the island paradise is simply tantalizing as ever. GEOGRAPHY

Fact remains, travel to Indonesia is dynamic exploration chasing after islands and wildlife, which is quite a lot. Indonesia is, after all 1,904,569 km2-territory with 17,508 islands with great biodiversity, 6,000 of which are inhabited, making it the largest and most populous country in the Southeast Asia. Mountains can be found inland, toward the island centres of bigger islands, the highest of which is the Puncak Jaya at an altitude of 5,030 metres above the sea level, the Indian Ocean in this part.

CLIMATE

The climate just can't get better for a Southeast Asian travel, tropical climate as usual as Indonesia straddles the equator. PEOPLE Indonesia is the 4th most heavily populated country in the world succeeding the United States with 240,271,522 people, or officially, Indonesians. Its high population and rapid modernization entail environmental concerns of excessive waste and poor management of it, large-scale illegal deforestation and massive air and water pollution with related forest fires that threaten neighbouring countries Brunei and Malaysia. The Javanese are the most numerous ethnic group with almost 45% of the population, and the island of Java, the most populous island in the world with 130 million of inhabitants.

LANGUAGE BAHASA INDONESIA, a modified Malay language, is the official language of the state. ATTRACTIONS

The rich and hearty Indonesian culture is the perfect accent to the allure of sights of this island paradise. Sulawesi is a place to site rare animals found nowhere else in the world that have evolved to survive in the island of heat and volcanic activity. Crater and volcanic lakes of Sumatra, alabaster beaches of Maluku, more volcanoes of Java, resorts of Bali, surfing sites and fine woven village textiles of Lombok, rainforests in Sabah and Sarawak, Borneo, West Papua, and thousands more places offer pristine nature experiences that is are constantly threatened, it is heart-breaking. From big island hopping trips from Sumatra to Kalimantan or Papua, or cheap thrills of watching Katchak in southern Bali, the common attraction and the genuine beauty is from the people scarcely touched by modern living, thriving in harmony with nature. FOOD

It does not matter the place, rest assured a guest will have a wide and colourful spread of dishes that are out-of-this-world in colours and flavours. The nine essential gastronomic elements of Indonesian cuisine are rice, fuel, cooking oil, flour, corn, salt, sugar, eggs and meat. A country of many faces, so is Indonesian cuisine combining Indian, Middle Eastern, European, Chinese, and Malay influences with their use of spices and methods of cooking and food presentation, but not without sharing some of their own like nutmeg, clove, and galangal, spices native to Indonesia.

Authentic Indonesian cuisine is not a solid concept per se. Rather it pertains to the cuisine in Indonesia which renders localized versions of others. In some dishes, food is so hot and spicy, it can kill microbes. Islamic food prohibitions are practiced but with some leniency. There's a big and beautiful world out there, but, a world of its own, Indonesia is a tough contender.